Just Another Day
by E-chu
Summary: Slash story. ZekeXRingo. Oneshot. Zeke has to endure a whole day of being followed by a lovesick Ringo...


**07:16**

I woke up, knowing immediately that it was far too early to be awake on a Saturday. The thing that had woken me was on top of my bed. Unfortunately, the _thing _happened to be my roommate, Ringo, wearing only his boxers. He had straddled my body, kneeling over me with one arm either side of my head.

Recently, Ringo had shown fewer and fewer inhibitions with me, but this was a new low, even for him.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked him, keeping my voice down so as not to wake the rest of the household.

"You just looked so adorable sleeping…" He smiled at me.

"So you thought you'd jump me?"

Ringo laughed. He reached out with one hand to touch my face.

The door to our room opened suddenly.

"Hey, Zeke," Sunny walked in without knocking. "Have you seen my pencil case…? Uh…" she trailed off as she took in the scene. "Am I disturbing something?"

"No," I said quickly, pushing Ringo off me. "Ringo was just messing around."

She gave me a sceptical look and Ringo seemed about to protest. Not wanting to spend any more time in the same room as Ringo, I snatched up my towel and slipped past Sunny to get into the shower first. Goodness knew what deranged conclusions she'd come to – all I could hope for was to implement damage control before she started spreading disturbing rumours around school.

* * *

**07:38**

I quickly stuffed a slice of toast in my mouth, chewed a couple of times and swallowed. I could probably get to the skate park in a quarter of an hour if I ran but even then, I'd be cutting it fine to start my show at eight.

To think that I'd assumed Lost Boy being unmasked would mean an end to early-morning radio shows. Okay, so I loved it really but were popularity and fans worth sacrificing my lie-ins?

"Listen, Zeke," Sunny said, coming over to the kitchen counter. "I'm sorry I disturbed you when you –"

"Sunny!" I snapped, accidentally spraying her with toast-crumbs. "There's nothing between me and Ringo!"

"Don't speak with you mouth full," she chided me.

"Sorry," I muttered around the toast in my mouth. She glared at me.

"I think it's cute." Ringo was leaning against the doorframe leading off to our bedrooms. He could at least have put a shirt on.

I decided not to dignify his comment with a response, instead throwing up my arms in a gesture of despair. I picked up my bag and snatched my last slice of toast before running out the door.

* * *

**08:14**

The track I was playing in the sound-proof booth came to an end and I faded it out, switching to microphone.

"You're listening to Lost Boy here on PirateNet," I announced, only just stopping myself from turning on the voice modifier as had become habit. My topic of conversation for today had only come to me while walking to the station but it was pretty good and hopefully if Ringo was listening, he'd get the hint.

"People who just won't take no for an answer. We all know them; the stubborn ones who always have to be right or get their own way. They come in all forms but the worst are those romantics who just won't let go.

"Maybe they're not stalkers – or at least not yet – but you know how annoying they get. And it's not just the poor object of their affection who suffers – everyone around them gets bored to death by their pining. Stay tuned and I'll go through how to shake these guys off."

I switched to the next track on that morning's playlist and leant back in my chair, running through what I was going to say next. At least the show would give me a couple of hours away from Ringo, though I was dreading the rehearsal for the school play this afternoon.

* * *

**10:32**

"Hey, are you leaving, Zeke?" Melissa called to me as I closed the door of the booth.

"I was just about to, why?"

She held up a bouquet of flowers. "These came for you while you were on air. A dozen red roses… very romantic. Someone has an admirer."

"Keep them," I told her, suspecting who had sent them. I turned to go.

"Ringo," she murmured reading from the accompanying tag. "Isn't that a boy's name?"

I snatched the bouquet's label away from her and crushed it in my hand. That damned idiot was so determined. Would he ever give up on me?

Outside, I was struck by a whim to want know what Ringo had written. I carefully unfolded the label and read the message written in Ringo's own scruffy handwriting.

'Congrats on another awesome show. Lots of love from your ever faithful, Ringo.'

It was enough to make you sick! 'Faithful', indeed – what was he, some sort of puppy-dog? Actually, considering the way he followed me around with a wide-eyed innocent look and his ruffled blonde hair, that was a quite plausible possibility.

A little puppy named Ringo.

* * *

**13:56**

School on a Saturday; what more tortures could Fitzy think up in the name of drama? I had barely arrived when Bridget pounced on me, pushed a clothing bag into my arms and gave me a shove towards the changing rooms.

"Didge, what the…?"

"That's your costume for the play," she explained, already going through something else on her clipboard. "Put it on – we need to check it's the right size."

Obediently, I went into the changing room and put the costume on like a good boy. For some reason the shirt had the buttons on the wrong way around and it was a little tight around the waist but I didn't think anything of it until I put on the rest of the costume.

"Uh, Didge?" I poked my head around the changing room door. "Are you sure this is the right costume?"

"Sorry Zeke," she said, clearly trying to suppress a laughing fit. "We had a slight mix up – that one was meant for Donna."

I stared at everyone gathered in the corridor, watching me. It felt as if my face was burning.

"Come on," Donna giggled. "Give us a spin!"

I was about to refuse when Declan grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out where everyone could see me, wearing the blouse and skirt meant for the female lead.

"Wow, Zekerina," he whistled. "I'm surprised you didn't notice it was wrong until after you'd put it on."

"Shut up." I snatched the right costume from Bridget and hurried back into the changing room. The last person I wanted to be anywhere near had just arrived to see me accidentally cross-dressing. I didn't mind the others seeing – at least I wasn't naked this time – but Ringo was another matter…

* * *

**17:57**

Fortunately, I had been able to avoid Ringo for most of the afternoon but now we were home, there was no chance of me getting away from him. I heard him behind me as I was laying the table for dinner.

"You know," he whispered in my ear. "Today at rehearsal you looked –"

"Don't say it," I hissed.

"Don't say what?" He smirked.

I glanced around to make sure no one was listening in to our conversation. "That I looked cute in a skirt or whatever."

"I wasn't going to." He gave his best innocent expression.

"Good."

"I was going to say you looked hot."

I actually dropped the handful of knives and forks I was holding. They clattered to the floor, immediately attracting Susan's attention. I assured her nothing was wrong and went about washing the cutlery, watching Ringo from a distance.

If he said anything else today, just one more thing, I'd make sure he would regret it somehow.

* * *

**23:31**

Surprisingly, Ringo didn't make any more comments. In fact, he had kept his eyes averted from me all evening. Maybe he had finally moved on.

But…

I missed it.

Sure, he was annoyingly clingy, constantly hanging around and relentlessly flirting. Of course, it was only natural for me to moan about it. Who wouldn't?

It was just that somehow, now he had stopped, things didn't seem right. I rolled over in bed, watching him peacefully sleeping across the room.

The label from the roses was smoothed out and tucked beneath my lamp where I had left it.

Emptiness. That was how I felt now as I remembered Ringo's playful little advances.

I reached out to the note but changed my mind and switched on my lamp instead. There was a little mumble from Ringo as he sat up in bed, squinting and shielding his eyes against the light.

"Ringo…" I whispered. "You know, you piss me off but, well, I kind of like you."

Gradually, a smile formed on his lips. He lifted up the corner of his duvet, patting the mattress. Gratefully, I crossed the room and slipped into bed beside him where the empty feeling disappeared.

* * *

**Author's note:** Zeke's my favourite Neighbours character so it was fun to play with him, though I'm not sure he agrees with me. Sorry Zeke, I couldn't resist dressing you up a little! I'm pretty sure there's a technical term for this style of story (taking place over 24 hours) but I can't remember what it is. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it though I'm afraid none of the characters (nor actors for that matter) belong to me.


End file.
